Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!tank!uwvax!astroatc!brown
From: brown@astroatc.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 1.2meg/360k compatibility question
Message-ID: <2250@astroatc.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jul 89 20:44:38 GMT
References: <IYiAOwy00UhBI1IEMx@andrew.cmu.edu>
Reply-To: brown@astroatc.UUCP (Vidiot)
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout
Lines: 30

In article <IYiAOwy00UhBI1IEMx@andrew.cmu.edu> as2d+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alan Henry Stein) writes:
<
<I am currently putting together a new computer and have a question.  I have
<read all the warning (in the DOS manual etc.) about writing to a 360k disk
<in a 1.2 meg drive (disk formatted at 360k) and then not being able to read
<it in true 360k drives.  I have also read about similar compatibility problems
<between 1.44meg and 720k drives.  Anyone have a problem with this type of
<compatibility or come up with a solution to it (other than putting in both
<HD and DD drives)??

First off the problem of writing 360K diskettes on a 1.2M drive is a real
problem.  The only way is to have both a 1.2M and a 360K drive.  I haven't
decided if I want my second drive to be a 360K or a 1.44M.  I can't have
both (internal).

But, there isn't a problem with 1.44M and 720K 3.5" drives.  At least no
different than the fact that you can't read a 1.2M floppy in a 360K drive.
The 1.44/720 deal is that if a floppy is formatted for 1.44M, it will not
be readable on a 720K drive, though a 1.44M drive can make 720K diskettes that
are 100% compatable with 720K drives only.  The deal there is that the
track density doesn't change when going from 720K to 1.44M (and vice-versa);
the flux density changes.

So, if you make 3.5" diskettes, you need to find out what size drive the
person has that you are making them for.
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